The Secret Rules Behind Royal Names, Flights and Fashion

0:03 Kalaroga Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark Francis. For centuries, members of the British royal family have traditionally been given three or four first names, usually drawn from previous monarchs and other relatives. Prince William, for example, is William Arthur Philip Louis. Prince Harry was christened Henry Charles Albert David. The newest generation has trimmed things down a little. William and Catherine gave each of their children three names, George Alexander Louis, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, and Louis Arthur Charles. And those names aren't random. Charlotte Elizabeth Diana is basically a royal family tree in three words. Charlotte is widely interpreted as a nod to her grandfather, King Charles. Elizabeth honours Queen Elizabeth II, and Diana honours William's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. There's also an interesting pattern. The closer a child is to the throne, the more traditional the name tends to be. That makes sense when you look at the family. The future king is George. Then you get farther down the succession and start finding Savannah and Isla Phillips and Princess Eugenie's children August and Ernest. InStyle also suggests there are certain names that have effectively become off-limits because of their associations. Andrew would certainly seem to be one of them. That doesn't mean Buckingham Palace has issued some official list saying do not name the baby Andrew. It means that if William suddenly announced that his next child was Andrew, there might be a few awkward looks around the family Christmas table.

1:32 Another royal naming quirk, they don't necessarily need surnames. Members of the royal family can use Mountbatten-Windsor when a surname is required, but children with titles often use their parents' territorial designation instead. That's why William and Harry were known as William Wales and Harry Wales at school. Today, George, Charlotte and Louis similarly use Wales. Harry and Meghan's children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, use Sussex as a functional surname. Meanwhile, Princess Eugenie's children use Brooksbank, the surname of their father, Jack Brooksbank. And despite a long-standing story that royal parents had to get Queen Elizabeth's permission before choosing a baby's name, that apparently wasn't the case. Royal commentator Kate Williams explained that naming was more of an informal family conversation. She said, of course they have such respect for the Queen that if she says, I really don't like that name, they definitely take that into account. Even Kate and William sometimes fly commercial. For major overseas tours and official government business, senior royals generally use chartered aircraft or government planes. The Royal Air Force's VIP Voyager is available to both members of the royal family and senior government officials, and official royal travel can be paid for through the sovereign grant.

2:46 That can get expensive. According to the latest royal financial accounts, William's February trip to Saudi Arabia was was the most expensive royal journey of the 2025 to 2026 financial year, with travel costs of around £ 130, 000. But not every royal trip involves a private aircraft. William and Catherine have repeatedly turned up on regular commercial flights. They flew British Airways from London to Mumbai for their 2016 tour of India. They used Aer Lingus when they travelled to Ireland in 2020. And when William and Catherine visited Boston in 2022, they arrived at Logan Airport on a commercial flight. They've even used budget airlines for private family travel. In 2011, William and Catherine reportedly used Flybee and EasyJet while travelling to Scotland for Zara Tindall's wedding. Then in 2019, William, Catherine, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis surprised fellow passengers when the entire family flew Flybee from Norwich to Aberdeen on their way to visit Queen Elizabeth of Balmoral. One passenger told The Sun, Earlier in the flight, I'd had the feeling that someone had come on the plane that I'd recognised, but I thought it was just a footballer.

3:51 We landed and people then saw two black Range Rovers on the tarmac. Suddenly, Will, Kate and the kids all got up and left. They aren't harassed by anyone at all as they got off the plane. They just seemed like a family travelling together. To be honest, no one saw them get on the plane either. It was amazing how they did it. They must have slipped on quietly after people were already seated. But apparently there can be another twist when Catherine and William travel commercially. Former British Airways flight attendant Elena Ford said she once worked a flight carrying the Prince and Princess of Wales and, according to Ford... Senior royals aren't necessarily seated in the highest cabin available. I think there's a thing in place where they can't fly in the highest cabin. So if there's a first class, they have to sit in business. And if there isn't a first class, they have to sit in Traveller Plus. I don't know, but they all have fake names. And here's where Kate's flight gets particularly interesting.

4:40 When we had Will and Kate, it was in business because we had a first, but the whole of business was security. But they were dressed as normal people, so you wouldn't know. In 2024... memorabilia from a former British Airways VIP flight attendant revealed some of the instructions issued for a royal flight in 1989. Auctioneer Charles Hansen said the collection contained confidential instructions from 1989 on how to care for our late Queen and Prince Philip right down to the sweets Her Majesty preferred on take-off. Elizabeth reportedly liked velements and martinis and travelled with her own pillows. And there was a Very specific instruction if the Queen happened to be asleep as the aircraft approached its destination.

5:21 According to Hansen, if Her Majesty was asleep prior to landing, cabin crews were instructed not to disturb her. She should be left in her bed. More palace in just a moment. The Telegraph has taken a look through Princess Anne's fashion history and found that the Princess Royal is still wearing clothes she first owned when she was a teenager. And this isn't just the occasional 20-year-old jacket. We're talking about pieces dating all the way back to 1968. Earlier this year, Anne attended a state banquet for the Nigerian president at Windsor Castle wearing a cream coat dress that she had first worn 57 years earlier when she was just 18. Then in June, she brought back a hat with its own lengthy royal history. Anne originally wore it for Zara Tindall's christening in 1981 and later wore it to Peter Phillips' wedding. Former royal dresser and stylist Sophie Jones Cooper tells The Telegraph, Princess Anne is the blueprint for the modern, sustainable woman, pioneering the way we should all approach our wardrobe with quality and longevity at the core. She carved out a distinct signature style decades ago and has kept this style, developing a uniform over the years, allowing her to re-wear pieces she wore in her 20s, now in her 70s. She does not need many new clothes, as the ones she already has serve her perfectly well. Why buy new when you have such fabulous quality pieces in your wardrobe which still fit your style, shape and lifestyle?

6:42 And once you start looking through Anne's wardrobe history, you realise just how committed she is to that philosophy. There's a turquoise coat with a dark fur trim that dates to 1976. Anne first wore it to the wedding of racing millionaire Chris Collins and Suzanne Lum, then repeatedly brought it back over the following decades, including several appearances during the 2000s. Another cream coat, this one with navy detailing, became something of a summer royal uniform. Anne wore it to the Royal Ascot in 1980 and again in 1990. It appeared at the Epsom Derby in 1985, the Henley Royal Regatta in 1986, Buckingham Palace Garden Parties in 2015 and 2016, and the Commonwealth Day Service in 2018. Some pieces aren't quite so ancient, but have quickly joined the rotation.

7:27 A vivid turquoise coat first appeared on Easter Sunday in 2018. Anne has worn it at least six times since then, including Christmas at Sandringham, the Cheltenham Festival, and Easter again this year. There's also the bright red double-breasted coat that has become particularly familiar at Cheltenham. Anne wore it there in 2016, 2024, 2025, while also using it for Christmas church services and other engagements. But the real fun comes when Anne reaches deep into the archives. A yellow dress coat she wore for Trooping the Colour in 1980 was still being used 35 years later at Royal Ascot. And Anne didn't merely reuse the coat. On several occasions, she paired it with the same printed blouse. A lilac wool coat dates back to 1982, when Anne wore it during a visit by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. It subsequently appeared for Commonwealth Day and several Christmas appearances. Then there's a cream skirt suit with orange piping. That one debuted at Trooping the Colour in 1987, 21 years later, and brought it back for an event at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

8:30 It appeared again during a visit to South Africa in 2012 at a Women's Institute event in 2015 and, remarkably, at Royal Ascot in 2025. That's nearly 40 years of service from one suit. And there you have it. If you'd like to email us, our address is thepalaceintrigue at gmail.com. If you're on Spotify, leave us a comment. If you're on Apple, hit that button up there that says Listen Uninterrupted and for five bucks a month you get the show commercial free. We appreciate your support. I'm Mark Francis. My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue. Good times.